Growing up amongst the mountains and lakes of northern California my childhood was filled with countless hours spent in the wilderness. My parents sought to instill in their children the importance of experiencing the natural world and before I could walk I was being taken on trips into the backcountry and across the mountain ranges of the pacific northwest.

I vividly recall coming inside, mostly because pie was being served, and watching photo slide shows my father would hold at my family’s home. From a young age, I would witness photographs being used to convey story as family friends and community would gather to share in the experience. My father was always encouraging of me using his camera and eventually camcorder. The ability to create visual imagery and convey experience drove me to pursue film school in Los Angeles.

Working as a video editor in southern California I picked up a camera as a way to explore my own creativity independently from the inference of creative directors, production teams and clients. I purchased a 35mm Nikon and borrowed the same lenses from my father that I had used as a child with the interest of reaching back to my initial youthful intrigue and experiencing it with new access.

That same year I was invited on a camping trip, it would be the first outdoor trip I had been on since moving to Los Angeles almost ten years prior. Everything was different, the natural world became incredibly dynamic and alive to me. I began returning with a passion to experience the natural landscape; exploring though photographic expression my observations and experience.